This week my family is coming over for Christmas brunch, and even me ... traveling breakfast girl ... is feeling the self-imposed pressure of making a holiday brunch that is memorable and delicious.

I had a hankerin this week to try out some holiday pancakes, and I have some great pancake recipes from innkeepers, but I really wanted to try a gingerbread pancake.  I've even been on the hunt for a gingerbread man pancake mold ... but I've only found cookie cutters. Thanks to the Google Gods I did find eons of gingerbread pancake recipes.  So many I didn't know which one to try.  Some with raisins, some with currants, some with cocoa.  I just wanted a basic gingerbread pancake, is that too much to ask!

I just eenie-meenie-minnie-mowed and clicked through on one of the first listings that came up.  I found one on CDKitchen.com and gave it a whirl (with a couple of modifications/additions later ... please take note).

Here's what you'll need!  I have the full list of ingredients at the bottom of the post.  I later added an additional cup of flour, teaspoon of ginger and 1/4 cup of sugar.

Start with adding your dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl.

Next, add your wet ingredients to another bowl and whisk together.

During one of my health nut kicks a couple of years ago I had a nasty introduction to molasses.  You see, I thought it was syrup.  I was going to be healthy and low cal by adding that to my pancakes.  And I drenched my sweet little pancakes in the black, rust-flavored tar.  Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh.

My boyfriend was a champ.  He didn't complain. Ate them all.  Me ... I made some toast instead.

Molasses on milk.

My new art project.

Blend together.  Starting to look like chocolate milk, huh?   Don't drink it though.

Pour wet batter into your large  dry ingredients bowl with the flour, spices, etc.

You may have to scrape the bottom of the bowl a bit.  Molasses doesn't play nice with others.

Blend.

Well bah-humbug.  The batter was runny.  I dipped my finger in and took a taste. This was a no make-up-work-in-my-pajamas day, so I have no photographic evidence of the finger-licking.  But I'll tell you that it tasted like molasses.  Ugh. Now I'm feelin a bit scroogey.

I followed the recipe EXACTLY!   To a T!    (indecently, where does the phrase "to a T" actually come from?)

Anyway, it was a runny, molasses flavored mess.

So, I added a little more love that it needed.

An extra cup of flour.  That helped with the consistency.

Now to put molasses in its place and tweak the flavor.  I added an additional tsp of ginger and a 1/4 cup of sugar.

Mmm.  That helped a whole lot!  Dipped my finger again and now the flavor is more like a gingerbread cookie.  It's ready to go be made into round cake perfection.

A little butter.

A little batter.

A little bubbly.

Flip.

Now that's a leave-for-santa worthy pancake.  I could eat it like a cookie.  But instead of eating with my fingers I'll fancy it up with a bit of butter, maple syrup and festive star fruit.  And of course, a fork and knife.  Still in my pajamas though.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Pancakes

Ingredients

2 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg, beaten

3 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

1) Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  (Flour, spices, sugar, baking soda and powder)

2) In a separate bowl, beat the egg  then add and mix together the milk, molasses and oil.

3) Add wet mixture to dry mixture and blend until combined.  Using a ladle or measuring cup, scoop 1/4 cup of batter onto  a hot greased griddle or skillet. You can use non-stick spray or butter. (I prefer butter for flavor)

4) Turn when bubbles form on the surface and the edges are golden brown.

5) Serve with butter, syrup and festive starfruit.

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Here's another great pumpkin recipe for the fall coming to us from the B Street House Bed & Breakfast in Virginia City, NV.   There are two things in this recipe that make your taste buds leap off the charts ... it's spicy like gingerbread ... and it has a gooey cream cheese surprise in the middle.

There was one particular spice that I didn't have in my pantry, and while I was shopping for ingredients my jaw it the floor at the price ...  Cardamom.  There was only one brand in our local grocer that carried it and the sucker was 12 bucks.  Sheesh.  Well, if it's expensive, it must be good, right?  This inspired me to do some research.  What's the story behind this pricey spice?  I googled it and found that my $12 bottle was a bargain.  Some spice shops online were charging upwards of $67.  I've just renamed this recipe Fall Harvest Food of the Gods.

Wikipedia says ... "Green cardamom in South Asia is broadly used to treat infections in teeth and gums, to prevent and treat throat troubles, congestion of the lungs and pulmonary tuberculosis, inflammation of eyelids and also digestive disorders. It also is used to break up kidney stones and gall stones, and was reportedly used as an antidote for both snake and scorpion venom." The spice includes volatile oils such as camphor, eucalyptol, and limonene.  Some sites reported it to be used in Ayurvedic medicine and also an effective aphrodisiac.

Well no wonder it's so dang expensive!  It's a absolute cure-all.  Next time I get sick I'm baking some of these babies instead of taking NyQuil.

On with the recipe ...

Hmm.  After taking a glance at this photo,  it looks like I went overboard with the cinnamon again.  Good thing it wasn't with the cardomom!  No ... wait ... it's the pumpkin pie spice that's the big mound in the middle.  They call it "spicy" pumpkin muffins for a reason!  There is almost as much spice as there is flour.  I have a full list of ingredients with the recipe at the bottom of the post.

The stars of this show ...

Cream Cheese.  Take an 8 ounce block and cut it into 12 little cubes.

And of course, the spices.  They even smiled for the occasion.

Add your dry ingredients to one bowl.  Starting with flour ...

The menagerie of spices ...

A whoosh of dark brown sugar ...

And then add your "wet" ingredients to a second bowl.

Starting with canned pumpkin (plain, not the pie filling)

A little oil.  I had to hold this with two hands as I was starting to get messy and lost my "no slip" grip in my fingertips.

Molasses.  I have a funny confession about molasses.  During my go-green-all-natural-hippy phase (I'm still eco-friendly, but lite) I decided I was going to try molasses instead of syrup on my pancakes.  I had been using maple, which is natural but high calorie.  I thought this would make a low-cal natural alternative.  Buwhahahaahahahahah!

It was my first time trying the tar-like sap.  Took me a year to try it again.  But only in it's proper use as a "blended" ingredient.

Buwwwahhhahahahah!

I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.  Enough with the self-deprecating confession.  Needless to say I didn't lick this bowl.

Add two eggs, a cap full of vanilla and whip together.

Then add to your BIG bowl of dry ingredients and whip together some more.

Spoon into muffin cups.  If you know a non-messy trick to doing this, please let me know!

I usually just wipe down the pan with a wet paper towel to erase the splatter.  I know on TV and in cookbooks it always looks so neat and tidy ... but I bet the reality is there is someone just behind the camera wiping down the messy spoon drippings too.

Press the cream cheese cubes into the center of each muffin cup.  Resist the temptation to pop them in your mouth.  Resist!

Sprinkle with chopped walnuts and pop em in the oven at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.

Voila!  Spicy Pumpkin Muffins. Fall Harvest Food of the Gods.

B Street House Bed & Breakfast

Spicy Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese

1 1/2 Cups flour

1 Cup dark brown sugar

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 Cup cooked or canned pumpkin (not pie filling)

2/3 Cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 tsp molasses

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 Cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease or spray with butter-flavored oil spray 12 muffin tins or line with paper baking cups.

2) Stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix together the pumpkin and wet ingredients.  Stir into dry ingredients until blended.  Fill muffin tins 3/4 of the way full.

3) Divide cream cheese into 12 equal portions.  Put one portion in each muffin in the middle of the muffin batter, pressing down.  Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

4) Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin part.  Let cool for a bit then serve!

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